UA Intercultural Diversity Center Finds Permanent Place in Ferg

The University of Alabama's Intercultural Diversity Center (IDC) unveiled a new base of operations in the Ferguson Student Center in a grand opening ribbon-cutting event Wednesday.

The IDC moved its main office from a multipurpose room in the Riverside dorm into a second-floor space in the Ferg, Room 2100, this week.

The student organization was founded on the mission to "advance UA's commitment to cultivating and respecting diversity by serving as a resource and liaison for students, staff, and faculty," as stated by its website.

Just this semester, students in the IDC have organized several events ranging from discussions on voting and civic engagement to race representation of Latinx people in the South. And now that students have a permanent fixture within the Ferguson Center, the scope of their projects is about to get a lot bigger, according to Demarcus Joiner, UA's SGA President.

"I want to challenge my peers, my fellow students, not to settle for just this space," said Joiner, who spoke at the grand opening. "The burden is on all of us to keep advocating and to keep pushing to make diversity, equity and inclusion a reality across our entire campus and a daily part of each of our lives."

Joiner also made sure to point out that the centrality to the rest of the campus was a great success in ensuring both accessibility to students and efficiency for the organization.

This new Ferg space, despite COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, promises to house more students than Riverside could at any given time, with many speakers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony echoing the point of the necessity of this space.

Caitlyn McTier, UA SGA's Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, specifically mentioned that this space is going to be a great tool for meeting future goals and outreach.

"As a minority student leader, it was an honor to see the opening of the IDC at the Ferguson Center," McTier said. "I look forward to seeing how the space continues to advance the University's commitment to DEI for years to come."

The Intercultural Diversity Center will be open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m, Saturdays from 11 a.m to 7 p.m and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.